Alou hits 300th career homer, Bonds denied in Giants' win

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Moises Alou dresses across the clubhouse from a slugger in the 700 home run club.

That didn't change how Alou celebrated the 300th homer of his career on a day Barry Bonds came close to hitting his first of the year and No. 709.

"That's how amazing what he's done is -- 300 is a big number," Alou said and then joked that for his teammates, "When you have a guy with 700 on this team, it's not too exciting, 300."

Bonds drove in his first run of the season with a seventh-inning single and also had two deep flyouts, while Alou homered for the third time in four games in the San Francisco Giants' 5-3 victory over the Houston Astros in the opener of a doubleheader Thursday.

Randy Winn blooped a tiebreaking RBI single to left in the fifth, and Omar Vizquel had a sacrifice fly one batter later in San Francisco's first game in four days. Alou added a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

When he returned to his locker after a short session on the trainer's table, his manager father, Felipe Alou, had left the day's lineup card and he also got the ball. His bat was waiting, already in a protective plastic sleeve.

Moises Alou's wife and three sons were in the stands to see it, too, on their last day in town before returning to the Dominican Republic -- and he hit it on his mother's birthday.

The opener in the three-game series was rained out for consecutive days, with Thursday's night game serving as the make up for Tuesday's postponed contest. Wednesday's washed-out game will be made up May 8.

Matt Morris (2-0) pitched into the eighth and allowed four hits and struck out four, leaving after Chris Burke's two-run single. Tim Worrell worked the ninth for his third save in three chances.

The right-hander didn't allow a baserunner until Willy Taveras
walked with one out in the fourth, and Mike Lamb followed with a single to right for Houston's first hit.

"I try to work fast when I'm throwing strikes and putting the ball over the plate to make them swing the bat and dictate that part of it," Morris said.

Morris, pitching on seven days' rest, looked sharp despite having both his first and second starts of the season pushed back because of rainouts, including last Tuesday in the team's
season-opening series at San Diego.

Houston starter Brandon Backe left after only two innings because of a sprained right elbow that he injured while throwing a
fastball to Lance Niekro. He was examined after the injury but finished the second. Backe will return to Houston to see team doctors when the Astros travel to Arizona.

Rookie right-hander Taylor Buchholz (0-1), who had been scheduled to make his first major-league start Tuesday against the Giants, then replaced Backe to start the third.

For Bonds, this is the longest he has gone into a season when healthy without a homer since 1998, when he didn't hit one out until San Francisco's 13th game. He is 3-for-16 (.188) with one RBI, remaining stalled at 708 -- seven shy of passing Babe Ruth's 714 and 48 from breaking Hank Aaron's mark of 755.

In his first at-bat leading off the second, Bonds quickly took two balls, drawing boos and chants of "You chicken!"

After a strike, Bonds hit a towering fly ball to right that had fans on their feet, and with a little wind it might have gone over the arcade. Jason Lane had to nearly go against the wall to make the catch.

Moments later, Moises Alou sent the first pitch he saw from Backe into the seats in left field for his third of the season. It marked the 112th time a player has hit 300 career homers. He received a hug from bat boy son, Moises Jr., and then a congratulatory handshake from his dad once back in the dugout.

"For us, the Alou family, it's a big number," said the 70-year-old Felipe Alou, who hit 206 homers in his 17-year big-league career. "I'm glad it happened here for him and I saw it. It
wasn't a cheapie."

Bonds came up to chants of "Barry! Barry!" in the fourth with Ray Durham aboard on a single and flied out to center with another deep shot within feet of the fence.

After popping out foul in the fifth with the defense shifted and runners on the corners, Bonds casually tossed his bat to the ground and flipped his helmet to the dirt.

He stepped into the batter's box with runners on the corners again in the seventh and lined a single to right that would have been a double if he decided to push his troublesome right knee.

Felipe Alou walked from left field to center early Thursday to gauge the condition of the water-logged grass -- determining it was playable enough to safely use Bonds. Neither Bonds nor Moises Alou was in the starting lineup for the second game.

Game notes

Giants left-hander Noah Lowry, the No. 3 starter on the 15-day DL with a strained right side muscle, played light catch for the
second straight day. He made 75 throws from 50 feet. ... Moises Alou became the first Giants player to hit his 300th since Bonds in 1996.